As we approach the second half of the school year, Principal Michael Rewick, recently conveyed optimism about the remaining months in terms of Covid-19.

“I’m optimistic and I’m hoping that we will all be back in school by May 1st. With vaccination starting hopefully the cases will go down,” said Rewick who added that these decisions are out of his hands and in those of the district, the state, and even the federal government.  The board did recently announce a target date of April 19 for a full-day schedule of classes still following the Hybrid schedule.

Rewick shed light on the topic of upperclassmen activities by saying that he is doing his best at trying to coordinate main events that are safe to attend for students. He hopes to have all major events such as senior prom, senior breakfast, and so forth to happen while still taking masking and social distancing into consideration.

“I hope to still have these events especially for our seniors,” says Rewick, “If we are allowed by the government to have them, we will probably do things outside while wearing masks.”

An official prom date has been announced for June 7 at the Legacy Castle in Pompton Plains. While the junior formal is generally held in March, no plans for this event are in place as of yet.

The school day schedules have been switched up multiple times, and this week marked the last virtual Wednesday.  Students will begin attending school for five days next Monday, March 1

Originally the virtual Wednesdays were set up to clean, but Rewick says, “We have the assurances that there will be deep cleaning on a daily basis. The custodians clean every night and are constantly working every day wiping surfaces down and using air sanitizers.”

Rewick is hoping that after teachers have been vaccinated and are comfortable and ready to go back to school, and therefore be able to go through a somewhat normal school year.

Standardized testing will still be happening in the school with students distanced in their desks and around the school. The normal testing schedules are unchanged but extra precautions would be needed. Rewick says the students still need to take the proper measures for studying and getting the standardized tests done. The school is cleaned regularly so the classrooms and desks will be fully sanitized before any students go into the school to take the state tests.

The first such testing will occur on March 11 when sophomores will take the PSAT. All other students will attend school virtually while their teachers are proctoring the test.

As COVID-19 numbers are beginning to level off here in New Jersey, perhaps Rewick’s predictions can possibly come true.